Tuesday, January 12, 2010

So, I’m pretty sure The Jonas Brothers will be everyones favorite band in 5 years. I will like them, my sister will like them, my best friend will like them and, dare I say...Pitchfork will most certainly like them. It’s all very obvious to me. They are on the same path as The Beatles. Let me clarify, they will NOT be the next Beatles. They will NOT revolutionize anything. What I mean is this: The Jonas Brothers and The Beatles have a very similar lineage. Started off young, rose a bit, fell hard, then blew up. The only thing thats left for The JoBros to do is make sophisticated music that no one can deny as good, if not great.

Why would any one say this? Well, my only reason to believe what they could become is their influences. I know, I know, Miley Cyrus “loves” Radiohead and Bob Iver. The difference between Miley and The JoBros is that The JoBros are actually talented, where as Miley is a talentless, bumbling fool. The Jonas Brothers like music that matters. Songwriters who made a difference. You won’t write great music if you listen to garbage.

The one thing me and Nick Jonas have in common is our love for Elvis Costello. That lucky son of a bitch got a chance to hang out with Elvis and talk about songwriting. While no one was shocked that Elvis was polite during the meeting, he did shell out some serious, eye opening advise to little Nick.

“See how far you can carry people into the things that you love, and don't be persuaded to keep making the same record. If being a pop star is your ambition, you're bound to be disappointed. There's truth to the idea that little girls who like you now are gonna wake up one day and be embarrassed they felt that way, because they feel like they're more sophisticated now.”

A lot of people argue that they’ll never break out of the Disney world to be legitimate musicians. Look at Justin Timberlake, he broke out and became the closest heir to of the king of pop that I’ve seen. The Brothers will grow up and their contract with Disney will expire. I think once those girls Elvis spoke of wake up and feel embarrassed is the day The Jonas Brothers will turn it around and do something great. The JoBros have to grow with their fans (and win over a few guys in the process). If they do that, they will be the biggest thing since...themselves. I’m hope I’m right.

Friday, January 8, 2010

I feel nothing towards Radiohead. I can’t say I hate them. I can’t say I really like them at all. They have some okay songs. Overall, what’s the fuss? Now, I’m not going to waste my time and your time by bashing Radiohead, because there’s nothing to bad about them, but more importantly, there’s nothing to life altering about them. Radiohead is one of the most underwhelming bands in the 21st century. My first experience with Radiohead was seeing a big poster of Kid A in my guitar “teacher’s”1 room. Then I remember he taught me to play “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” off The Bends. I also remember being ridiculously into the riff, but for whatever reason, I never pursued the band. Every since I got into high school people haven’t shut up about Radiohead. I post from time to time on a message board designated to Alkaline Trio super-fans2. I started a thread to tell everyone about this blog. It somehow turned into this Radiohead bashfest. I’m totally okay with people hating any music, but only if it’s grounded in the music, not the musician. Too many people I know hate Radiohead because of what Thom Yorke does and says3.

Since it’s the end of the decade, year/decade end lists are coming out of the internets woodwork, including the very blog you are reading. Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and Spin all had a Radiohead album as their number one. Paste, The Onion, Wall Street Journal and NME all had Radiohead in their top ten. Does a band like Radiohead really deserve all this praise? No, not really. But I won’t say they deserve no praise, because I am aware that they are bafflingly talented and are an ever-evolving group, which is something I greatly admire. The most frustrating thing about the Radiohead fanatics is their claims that Kid A changed the rock record forever. I disagree. The Beatles and Bob Dylan changed the Rock (with a capital fucking R) album forever. Sgt. Pepper and Highway 61 Revisited took Rock and put a mirror in front of it’s face and told him he was a pathetic bitch. If you can look Paul McCartney in the eye and say that Kid A is Rock record, then maybe you’ll have room to argue here, dear reader. Kid A is undoubtedly a great piece of work, but I have a hard time believing anyone could connect to it in ways that listeners connect to an album like Arcade Fire’s Funeral. Radiohead puts an awkward distance between them and the listener.

I’m sure it seems like this post is just a rip on Radiohead. That’s lame and cliche4. Radiohead does a lot of great things. They revolutionized the distribution side of music. They create thinkin’ man’s music, music that requires you to really listen, which I need for time to time in music. And on every record they try to focus on a new aspect of the band. For example, Thom Yorke spoke about how on In Rainbows they concentratedonpercussion. I admire them as artist and they certainly hold a spot in music history.

I know some of you are unwavering Radiohead fans. This post isn’t for you (probably should have mention that earlier). This post is for the people who blindly worship Radiohead or who blindly hate Radiohead. This whole discussion came up because I’m sick of critics copping out and putting Radiohead as the best everything ever. There’s always something better. Always5. You’re just not trying.

____________________________

1 when I mean “teacher”, I mean a dude I payed to jam with me.

2Dib Dub,

3This seems to be an issue with Amy Winehouse too.

4just so everyone is on the same page, any extreme feeling towards Radiohead is cliche.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

I can’t say for certain that I’ve been a music nerd my WHOLE life. But I can’t remember a time where I wasn’t wholeheartedly into some form of music. Here is where I go through the years and get real embarrassed…

Birth-4: I cried a lot.

5-7: When I was 7 my family moved from Holden, Massachusetts to Naperville, Illinois. Our babysitter got my sister and I goodbye presents. My sister got No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom and I got Space Wars: 20 Space Hits. I have no clue why he go that for me, but MAN did I love it. The only thing I really remember about this was jammin’ so hard to “Cantina Band” from Star Wars, and I can still jam to it. It’s good to know my 7-year-old ears agree with my 19-year-old ears.

8-11: Three words. Third Eye Blind. Yes dear reader, I was a 3eb super fan. I knew every word to every song on both Third Eye Blind and Blue Planet. I would look back every few years to Third Eye Blind and until the last year or so, I absolutely hated it. I was pretty anti-pop music for quite some time. After years of hatred, I gave in and just embraced it for what it is: amazingly well written, irresistible pop music.

12-14.5: I’d like to blame my sister for these three years. I listened to nothing but AC/DC. You think I’m kidding...I’m not. I like to lie to people and say that at this age I listened to Zeppelin, Clapton, GNR, KISS and AC/DC. It was just AC/DC and sometimes a song or two from those other artists (I listen to Led Zeppelin way more now than I ever did). In middle school I had my CD Walkman and a thick CD case filled with AC/DC (21 in all). Everyday I’d listen to a different CD on the bus ride home. I don’t know what was so damn appealing, but I was hooked. I kind of see it as the same reason why some young kids like the hibbity-hop. There’s a big beat to bob along to, and it’s the same flawless formula every time. After three years of nothing but that flawless formula, I began to see the flaws and just got bored. Although, I do jam Powerage once in a while.

14.5-16ish: I’d like to thank Jack Johnson for showing me the light. By that I mean, showing me that modern music could actually be good. During my Junior High years, I was pretty convinced that anything past 1991 was not worth listening to. I remember sitting on my couch and seeing this video. Today it seems stale, but at the time this was the coolest video I ever laid my eyes upon. From Jack Johnson, I started to explore more modern acts. I got into pretty much every pop-punk band on earth. For that time, it was the end all be all. I was so devoted to that music and that scene (or whatever), it was scary. The only bands that still remain a favorite of mine from this period are Alkaline Trio, The Lawrence Arms, OK Go and Coheed & Cambria. The rest sort of make me wanna puke. Though nostalgia gets the best of me sometimes and I spin certain songs by certain bands that will remained unnamed. As for Jack Johnson, I feel like everyone goes through a JJ phase. I've moved on entirely from him but I will always respect him for his music and what he showed me.

16ish-19: These last three years or so have been the most musically explorative years ever. I’ve listened to pretty much anything I can get my hands on. Indie, Hip-Hip, Pop, Jazz, Classic Rock, Classic Country, Folk. Anything...but not everything (save this debate for another time). I’ve done my best to take music at face value. If I didn’t I wouldn’t listen to Hank Williams Sr. Hank is one hell of a song writer, but if you really look at his songs, they’re all the same in almost every sense of the way. They’re all around 2 minutes and 45 seconds, they’re all about some lady, they’re all tongue-in-cheek, they’re all in the key of D and there’s never, ever a bridge. Must I continue? And although they’re shallow country songs, they’re fun and well written. That’s all that matters. I just wish country music now wasn’t such a joke.

In my later high school years, I was a pretty huge elitist when it came to music. If you didn’t listened to what I listened to, it sucked and you sucked. With age came the realization of certain things (okay a lot of things). Most importantly that what someone likes or doesn't like doesn’t really matter. All that matter is what makes you happy. Even if it’s Angels & Airwaves. Though it is hard to not rip on someone when on their facebook, under music, it says “Rascal Flatts, T-Pain, AVA, oldies”. If that’s what they like, the God Bless ‘em. I’d rather the world listen to music, than not at all.

On a final note, I highly encourage everyone to go and do this for your self. If you’d like, post what you listened to throughout the years. It’s really cool to reconnect with your self. I went back a listened to that “Cantina Band” song from Star Wars. It's basically a jazz song, and I got a Jazz boxset for Christmas. Spooky.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

So I made this list. I slaved over it for a few days. I even wrote out an entry about what makes a good song and what makes a bad song. After writing like two or three pages, my faithful editor told me to try again or scrap it. I scrapped it. You may notice that 2009 songs on this list don't appear in the same order as the 2009 list. I can't explain why. I guess after a few nights rest, my opinions change.

Enjoy. Feel free to discuss.

-Garreth

Outkast - “Hey Ya!”

Gnarls Barkley - “Crazy”

Jay-Z Feat. Alicia Keys - “Empire State of Mind”

Arcade Fire - “Wake Up”

*NSYNC - “Pop”

Outkast - “B.O.B.”

The Swell Season/The Frames/Glen & Mar - “Falling Slowly”

Wilco - “Impossible Germany”

Nelly - “Country Grammar (Hot Shit)”

Kelly Clarkson - “Since U Been Gone”

The Killers - “All These Things That I Have Done”

Justin Timberlake - “Like I Love You”

Queens of The Stone Age - “No One Knows”

The Walkmen - “The Rat”

The Strokes - “Last Night”

Rihanna feat. Jay-Z - “Umbrella”

The White Stripes - “Fell In Love With A Girl”

Brittany Spears - “Womanizer”

Norah Jones - “Don’t Know Why”

Gorillaz - “19-2000 (Soulchild Remix)”

Beyonce - “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”

Black Eyed Peas - “Pump it”

Amy Winehouse - “You Know I’m No Good”

Bob Dylan - “Mississippi”

The Raconteurs - “Salute Your Solution”

Ben Kweller - “Fight”

JET - “Are You Gunna Be My Girl”

Animal Collective - “My Girls”

Broken Social Scene - “7/4 (Shoreline)

Modest Mouse - “Float On”

David Bazan - “Bless This Mess”

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - “Magick”

Dr. Manhattan - “Misses Steward”

Natasha Beddingfield - “Unwritten”

MGMT - “Time To Pretend”

Nine Inch Nails - “The Hand That Feeds”

Sufjan Stevens - “The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders”

Ebu Gogo - “H.U.G.S.”

John Mayer - “Neon”

The Flaming Lips - “Do you Realize???”

OK Go - “You’re So Damn Hot”

Jay-Z feat. The Roots - “Can I Get A…/Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)/Ain’t No N**** (Live)”